Forget Regret
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: Sometimes Alice can't help wonder if Hatter ever regrets...


Note From The Author- This is my first Alice story, and it's been bouncing around in my head for a while now. It's certainly not the best thing I've ever written, but I couldn't help but put it down. Let me know what you think : )

Disclaimer- I do not own the characters of Sci Fi's Alice, though I certainly wouldn't mind having a Hatter of my own if anyone's offering.

Alice found that she spent a lot of her time musing after Hatter had come to her world; though she supposed that was probably natural when you were with a man as fantastically complex as him.

Not surprisingly, her musings usually turned towards her strange and wonderful relationship with the man from another world. As far as anyone knew David Hatter was a transplanted construction worker turned shop worker from the UK. Nobody suspected that he was really a former tea shop owner from an alternate universe. Of course the thought wouldn't occur to them, but it was still one of those little things between them that never ceased to bring forth sly smiles.

Their relationship had progressed quickly, at the least to the mind of most of those on the outside. They couldn't possibly know how intensely the two of them had connected on their whirlwind adventure in Wonderland. They had moved in together after only two months, and though Alice's mother had been reluctant to accept the change she had been forced to admit that the pair of them were pretty much perfect for each other. Their sweet, hilarious, charged and intense interactions left little doubt that they weren't rushing into things as much as some would assume.

Hatter had adjusted marvelously to his new life in a new world, but sometimes Alice worried that he was missing out on life on the other side. She knew that the people in his life had run more towards casual acquaintances, employees and enemies, but there had still been connections for him in Wonderland. Though he seemed to be fine, she still couldn't help but feel concern every now and then.

On one of those nights when she became pre-occupied with thoughts of his life past and present she found herself studying him as he went through the ritual of readying for bed. The routine was the same as always, and Alice couldn't help but smile as she watched him spin his hat off of his head, down his arm and onto the coat rack before running his hands over his messy hair. Her heart filled when he caught her gaze in the mirror and shot her one of those dimpled, from deep in the heart grins of his, and as he started to pull off the layers of clothes he always seemed to wear she felt the doubts she hadn't yet expressed bubble up.

"Hatter," she asked quietly. "Do you ever regret coming here?"

The question so stunned him that he turned around in the middle of undressing and spoke to her in a muffled yet thoroughly shocked voice. "Why on earth would you think that?"

Alice struggled valiantly to keep a straight face, but seeing him there with his undershirt scrunched up around his mouth and that crazy hair she loved so much sticking up from the neck hole just made her lose it. With a throaty laugh she flopped on their bed with a throaty laugh. "Oh my God you have no idea how completely ridiculous and adorable you look," she managed to gasp out.

"Hey," he protested loudly as he struggled with the shirt. When he finally got the thing off he took one look in the mirror and broke out in a smile. "Okay so maybe ridiculous is accurate." He stripped off the rest of his clothes, leaving himself clad in only his boxers. Turning, he saw that she was still in hysterics over him and his grin turned mischievous. "Laughing at me, are we?"

She let out a laughing squeal as he leaped onto the bed to tickle her sides. Squirming under his touch she finally cried out. "Okay, okay. You're not ridiculously adorable," she told him as she rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheek. "You're very rugged and manly and all sorts of other dignified things."

"Thank you." With a soft smile he gentled his touch and rolled over to his back to pull her against him. "Now why on earth would you ever think that I would regret coming here?" Hatter questioned, his tone turning serious.

The whole thing made her feel incredibly vulnerable; a little worried at what she might hear despite the fact that she knew that he loved her. "You had a life in Wonderland, people, connections and a shop, and you gave it all up to come here."

He could hear the worry in her voice, and it damn near broke his heart. It was clear that the words that were about to come out of his mouth were going to be very important, and more than anything he wanted to convey to her everything he was feeling. "I came here because you were here, and I know that may sound trite, but it's honestly the truth." Gently, he took hold of her arms and guided her so she lay propped on her elbows, looking down at him so she could see him. "What I found with you in Wonderland… Alice you made me feel things that I had never allowed, and made me realize who I was, that I needed to pick a side and do the right thing."

"But you left everything behind."

"I left everything behind because what I had there was nothing. I told Jack what I wanted done before I left; didn't take long all things considered," he told her, dimples flashing as he smiled wryly. "And I came here to you because I was hoping against hope that all of those little moments between us would add up to something."

Alice couldn't help but smile at his words. This was the man that she loved, and really knowing that he had no regrets made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world. "I knew they would, if we ever got the chance," she said softly. Breathing a gentle sigh, she leaned down to kiss him, relishing in the fact that they were there together.

The kiss spun out gently, spiraling down sweetly until she pulled back to return to her favorite position; tucked against his side with her cheek pressed against the warm skin of his chest, just above his heart. With the sound of his heartbeat strong in her ear, she found herself beginning to drift. Looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms, Hatter let himself simply breathe her in for a moment before he asked his own burning question. "How about you? You ever regret letting a git like me in your life?"

"Not once," she told him sleepily, pressing a kiss to that strong beating heart "Not a single time."


End file.
